- M
- J
The backstory
Asking for help is the most difficult thing I have ever done.
On December 25th 2019, as we sat round the dinner table with our closest family members we told them all the excing news that we were going to be parents. We were the happiest family in the world that day and 2020 was our year. And we were all excited. The due date was 22nd July 2020.
The pregnancy was a dream and I settled well into my new role of motherhood Being self employed as a hairdresser I had to cut my work load and look after my precious cargo. Then things started to go wrong. Numerous bleeds left us panicked and rushing to the hospital. At week 19 we was told that I was leaking amniotic fluid and pregnancy isn't viable before 20week. We carried on and then the pandemic hit. My salon closed down and thankfully I was able to rest fully and get my feet up.
Then my water went completely we rushed to Burnley maternity unit and I was given two shots of steroids to help with baby's lungs. I was completely on my own at this time as my husband was unable to visit due to the lockdown I could only see him through the window when he would come to visit. At 25wks I went in to labour on my own 'I was scared for me and my baby' and william missed the birth by two minutes. And we were told together that we had a daughter and then dad got to have a quick look take a photo and she was rushed past me to NICU
Willow Olive Peirce was born 9.13pm 9th April 2020 weighing a tiny 755grams (1lb 6oz)
I was then taken to theater due to my placenta not coming away. Further investigation showed that I had placenta increta which means the placenta had grown into the muscle wall of my womb. A hysterectomy was needed to remove it. I had to deal with this once again on my own. I was devastated.
This is such a rare condition I was discussed a lot with numerous gynecologist clinics and we decided to try and save my fertility as I only had one child and she was 15 wks early and her life was uncertain at this point. We decided to leave the placenta insitu where it remains till this day, with the hope that it will absorb into my body over time. Unknown if it would work. I was monitored closely and had to watch for any signs of infection sepsis, was a serious concern. Another thing was bleeding out. I had 15 minutes to get to the hospital if any bleeding occured because if the placenta decide to detach we wouldn't be able to stop the bleeding, this happened once and I was prepped for theater. Luckily it stopped and we didn't need to go down that route.
I was given the usual post pregnancy blood thinners daily injections. But these were taken back from me because of the high risk of a bleed out.
Willow Olive
as we looked into the incubator at our precious tiny daughter with wires and tubes coming out of every tiny limb we were overcome with how perfect she was, her tiny hand and toes, and her cute button nose, we were in love. ♥️ Covid once again made things difficult as it was only one parent at a time. Again I was on my own with the loud alarms and the medical jargon. Scared for myself and for her.
I never got to see my husband look at her or stroke her beautiful cheek.
We soon realised Willow was a fighter. Her little arms punched off the nurses touch. And her strength was awesome to witness. She was on a ventilator due to her poor lung development. Individually we got told about a bleed on her brain grade 3/4 unaware what this meant for future. We also discovered she had a hole in her heart very common in preterm babies we hoped this would eventually close on its own. She also had chronic lung disease due to her prematurity and low amniotic fluid. She was a poorly baby but she fought on and fought hard. Over time we watched her personality blossom. They nicknamed her Wild Willow and it stuck. We decided to add the name Faith to her name. As my love for George Michael " coz you gotta have Faith" Willow Olive Faith Peirce was crowned. She was doing well and the warrior continued to give her best fight.
tragedy struck.
I had been suffering severe headaches for a few days painkillers did nothing, all that helped was ice packs. I went to my routine monitoring and they did a full neurological exam as I was disoriented and struggling to walk. They said it was stress headaches and gave me codine and sent me home. I was under a lot of stress so accepted the diagnosis.. VE day was a celebration we enjoyed some drinks and chatted to friends via facetime. I even enjoyed joining my friends stag doo over zoom, we let our hair down and was the happy couple again.
The following day while off to see Willow I suffered a severe stroke behind the wheel on the m65. William found me and brought me home and called an ambulance when he saw my facial droop. I was blue lighted to the nearest hospital and once again was on my own as Will was left by the road side due to covid he couldn't be with me.
It was bad, really bad but over time I'm recovering and although I'm not 100% I'm 100% better than I was.. my left side has got back to full strength but my left eye has lost vision I'm now unable to drive. Arriving home finally to my saviour and soul mate I was happy and content untill we got the call that Willow has taken a turn for the worse her kidneys had stopped working and toxins were poisoning her fragile little body. We were told to expect the worse and 24/48 were critical.
Will had to wake his poorly wife and tell her the bad news and get her out of bed after only being home for 6 hours. The whole family were frightened and sadly grandparents had still not even had chance to meet their new granddaughter.
Once again she showed us her fighting spirit and kicked ass. Fierce Peirce first of her name is a true miracle and is an inspiration to us all as a family.
The grandparents got to finally meet her and we watched with tears on our eyes and they gazed upon her and told her that she was truly loved by all.
The reason for the funding willow has spent her whole life fighting for her future and we are so proud. She has overcome surgery and the bleed on her brain has resolved. The hole is her heart has nearly fully closed. She has spent the first six months of her life in NICU her chronic lungs are holding her back and we are coming to terms that she may not even make it home for 2020 she is starting to out grow the NICU Burnley department and her next steps are pediatric care PICU this is to help her grow, and give her the best start in her development stage. PICU is in Manchester and the logistics are difficult for us. Wills work and colleagues have been amazing and super supportive during all this but our reserve funds are low. I'm still not working. And as I'm still unable to drive getting to and from Manchester hospital for visits is proving to be a major obstacle. I'm hoping that any extra funds would provide accommodation for me to stay as close to her as possible. I have my fingers crossed that the Ronald McDonald house will have space to accommodate me for 3 days a week to stay with her as she needs her mummy. If we can raise cash for a hotel even the grandparents could stay with me for a while for extra support and hopefully get to spend some quality time with their one and only granddaughter. Thank you for taking the the time to read our long story it's been difficult to write as I relive our traumatic year. If you do consider a donation please make sure you leave your name as we would like to thank you all personally.
Peace and love
Kim ♥️
Asking for help is the most difficult thing I have ever done.
On December 25th 2019, as we sat round the dinner table with our closest family members we told them all the excing news that we were going to be parents. We were the happiest family in the world that day and 2020 was our year. And we were all excited. The due date was 22nd July 2020.
The pregnancy was a dream and I settled well into my new role of motherhood Being self employed as a hairdresser I had to cut my work load and look after my precious cargo. Then things started to go wrong. Numerous bleeds left us panicked and rushing to the hospital. At week 19 we was told that I was leaking amniotic fluid and pregnancy isn't viable before 20week. We carried on and then the pandemic hit. My salon closed down and thankfully I was able to rest fully and get my feet up.
Then my water went completely we rushed to Burnley maternity unit and I was given two shots of steroids to help with baby's lungs. I was completely on my own at this time as my husband was unable to visit due to the lockdown I could only see him through the window when he would come to visit. At 25wks I went in to labour on my own 'I was scared for me and my baby' and william missed the birth by two minutes. And we were told together that we had a daughter and then dad got to have a quick look take a photo and she was rushed past me to NICU
Willow Olive Peirce was born 9.13pm 9th April 2020 weighing a tiny 755grams (1lb 6oz)
I was then taken to theater due to my placenta not coming away. Further investigation showed that I had placenta increta which means the placenta had grown into the muscle wall of my womb. A hysterectomy was needed to remove it. I had to deal with this once again on my own. I was devastated.
This is such a rare condition I was discussed a lot with numerous gynecologist clinics and we decided to try and save my fertility as I only had one child and she was 15 wks early and her life was uncertain at this point. We decided to leave the placenta insitu where it remains till this day, with the hope that it will absorb into my body over time. Unknown if it would work. I was monitored closely and had to watch for any signs of infection sepsis, was a serious concern. Another thing was bleeding out. I had 15 minutes to get to the hospital if any bleeding occured because if the placenta decide to detach we wouldn't be able to stop the bleeding, this happened once and I was prepped for theater. Luckily it stopped and we didn't need to go down that route.
I was given the usual post pregnancy blood thinners daily injections. But these were taken back from me because of the high risk of a bleed out.
Willow Olive
as we looked into the incubator at our precious tiny daughter with wires and tubes coming out of every tiny limb we were overcome with how perfect she was, her tiny hand and toes, and her cute button nose, we were in love. ♥️ Covid once again made things difficult as it was only one parent at a time. Again I was on my own with the loud alarms and the medical jargon. Scared for myself and for her.
I never got to see my husband look at her or stroke her beautiful cheek.
We soon realised Willow was a fighter. Her little arms punched off the nurses touch. And her strength was awesome to witness. She was on a ventilator due to her poor lung development. Individually we got told about a bleed on her brain grade 3/4 unaware what this meant for future. We also discovered she had a hole in her heart very common in preterm babies we hoped this would eventually close on its own. She also had chronic lung disease due to her prematurity and low amniotic fluid. She was a poorly baby but she fought on and fought hard. Over time we watched her personality blossom. They nicknamed her Wild Willow and it stuck. We decided to add the name Faith to her name. As my love for George Michael " coz you gotta have Faith" Willow Olive Faith Peirce was crowned. She was doing well and the warrior continued to give her best fight.
tragedy struck.
I had been suffering severe headaches for a few days painkillers did nothing, all that helped was ice packs. I went to my routine monitoring and they did a full neurological exam as I was disoriented and struggling to walk. They said it was stress headaches and gave me codine and sent me home. I was under a lot of stress so accepted the diagnosis.. VE day was a celebration we enjoyed some drinks and chatted to friends via facetime. I even enjoyed joining my friends stag doo over zoom, we let our hair down and was the happy couple again.
The following day while off to see Willow I suffered a severe stroke behind the wheel on the m65. William found me and brought me home and called an ambulance when he saw my facial droop. I was blue lighted to the nearest hospital and once again was on my own as Will was left by the road side due to covid he couldn't be with me.
It was bad, really bad but over time I'm recovering and although I'm not 100% I'm 100% better than I was.. my left side has got back to full strength but my left eye has lost vision I'm now unable to drive. Arriving home finally to my saviour and soul mate I was happy and content untill we got the call that Willow has taken a turn for the worse her kidneys had stopped working and toxins were poisoning her fragile little body. We were told to expect the worse and 24/48 were critical.
Will had to wake his poorly wife and tell her the bad news and get her out of bed after only being home for 6 hours. The whole family were frightened and sadly grandparents had still not even had chance to meet their new granddaughter.
Once again she showed us her fighting spirit and kicked ass. Fierce Peirce first of her name is a true miracle and is an inspiration to us all as a family.
The grandparents got to finally meet her and we watched with tears on our eyes and they gazed upon her and told her that she was truly loved by all.
The reason for the funding willow has spent her whole life fighting for her future and we are so proud. She has overcome surgery and the bleed on her brain has resolved. The hole is her heart has nearly fully closed. She has spent the first six months of her life in NICU her chronic lungs are holding her back and we are coming to terms that she may not even make it home for 2020 she is starting to out grow the NICU Burnley department and her next steps are pediatric care PICU this is to help her grow, and give her the best start in her development stage. PICU is in Manchester and the logistics are difficult for us. Wills work and colleagues have been amazing and super supportive during all this but our reserve funds are low. I'm still not working. And as I'm still unable to drive getting to and from Manchester hospital for visits is proving to be a major obstacle. I'm hoping that any extra funds would provide accommodation for me to stay as close to her as possible. I have my fingers crossed that the Ronald McDonald house will have space to accommodate me for 3 days a week to stay with her as she needs her mummy. If we can raise cash for a hotel even the grandparents could stay with me for a while for extra support and hopefully get to spend some quality time with their one and only granddaughter. Thank you for taking the the time to read our long story it's been difficult to write as I relive our traumatic year. If you do consider a donation please make sure you leave your name as we would like to thank you all personally.
Peace and love
Kim ♥️
Organizer
Kim Peirce
Organizer